Whether you’re one of the 2 million UK homes that’s already disconnected from the gas grid, or looking to take the plunge for yourself, take a look at our guide to the best ways to heat your home without gas.

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The Traditional Way…

Oil boilers are the classical choice for off the grid living. Instead of being connected to a gas main, you have a large oil tank on your property, with oil being delivered to your property regularly.

There are a few benefits to this, as it’s a fairly efficient way of producing heat, but loads of drawbacks. For example, as you have to order the oil yourself, there’s always a risk that you could run out and be entirely without heating. That’s before you get into logistics issues like snow or driver shortages that can delay deliveries.

In addition, oil boilers are pretty bad for the environment. They can produce up to 5 tonnes of carbon per year, and there’s no real way to offset this.

Some people suggest LPG (that is to say, a boiler that uses natural gas in a liquid form) boilers as an alternative, as they produce fewer carbon emissions. However, LPG tends to be very expensive, and has the same logistical issues as oil. This effectively means you’re still using a gas boiler but with none of the upsides.

The Better Way…

There are several alternative options that are a lot more environmentally friendly and are thus growing in popularity. Biomass boilers are an option, but these require some careful management and maintenance.

For a more practical and stress-free option, electric heating is for you. Whichever option you pick, electric heaters don’t create any carbon emissions on site. When combined with a green energy tariff, or a renewable energy source, they can be carbon neutral!

They also tend to be the most efficient options on the market, with many having a near 100% efficiency rate, so they’re a great option for saving money.

Radiant IR Heaters

Radiant heating is an incredible way to heat you instead of your living space, as they produce a penetrative form of heat that warms up people and objects instead of air. That means you feel the effects a more quickly.

Our IR panel heaters in particular are easy to install (you can plug them into an ordinary socket and mount them like a painting) and they’re only 22mm thick, making them very easy to fit into tight spaces.

Crucially, with our NXTGen and WIFI panels, it’s really easy to set up scheduled heating, ensuring you’re only heating certain rooms when you need them. Even without these extra features, IR panels run on an individual basis, so you don’t need to switch on an entire system to get them running. This makes them great as a top up heating option.

Heat pumps

For something a little larger, heat pumps are a hot topic right now!

The amazing thing about heat pumps is how efficient they are. We’ve mentioned before that most electric heaters have a near 100% efficiency rate. Well, heat pumps get closer to 300%! That means for every kilowatt of electricity you put in you get 3kWH of useable heat energy. This makes them great for saving money while also improving your environmental footprint.

However, heat pumps can be a bit cumbersome to install, and they’re not always a practical choice for every property.

Electric boilers

Electric boilers are rapidly becoming the most popular option for off the grid homes. This is partly due to their efficiency, but it’s also due to their incredibly compact designs. They’re really simple to install even in smaller spaces, as they don’t require flues or storage containers like gas or oil boilers.

Electric boilers also don’t take much maintenance, and if they do break repairs are relatively simple.

This makes them a particularly popular option for the growing tiny home trend, where self-sufficient and compressed designs are at the forefront.

Whatever you decide, get in touch with our team today. We can offer practical guidance and recommendations based on your unique circumstances. Give us a call on 0116 321 4124, or send us an email at sales@suryaheating.co.uk.

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